Ralegan Siddhi: On the December 18, social activist Anna Hazare finally called off his 18th fast -- most unlikely to be his last -- during his prolonged struggles for various public causes.
The first fast the former Indian Army soldier undertook was in June 1980, to seek recognition for a local school from the education department. It lasted for one day and was held in Ahmednagar.
Hazare's second fast, lasting two days, was at his village Ralegan Siddhi in June 1982 to protest against non-cooperation by government officers in rural development work, while his third fast, lasting five days, was also in his native village in February 1989 in support of problems by faced by farmers.
In November 1989, his fourth fast lasting nine days in his native village was for issues related to agriculture and electricity supply.
The anti-corruption crusader had fasted for six days at Alandi in Pune district in May 1994 to protest corruption in the Maharashtra forest department, while in November 1996, he had fasted for 12 days in his village to protest corruption by Maharashtra's Sena-BJP government.
His seventh fast, lasting 10 days, was at Ralegan Siddhi, in May 1997, to protest corruption by ministers in the Sena-BJP government, followed by another one lasting 10 days in Alandi in August 1999 on the same issue.
His ninth fast, lasting nine days, was at Mumbai in August 2003 to demand the RTI Act.
He had observed a nine-day fast in his village in February 2004 to demand effective implementation of the RTI Act, more powers to village-level gram sabhas and a law to deal with transfers of government staff.
Hazare's 11th fast, lasting 11 days, was held in Alandi in August 2006 to demand that the Centre refrain from weakening the RTI Act.
The anti-corruption crusader had fasted for 10 days in his native village from December 2005-January 2006 to demand action against corrupt Maharashtra government officials, who were indicted by the Justice Sawant Commission.
He had observed a nine-day fast in his village in October 2009 to seek action against corrupt ministers in Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra, while in March 2010, he had again fasted for five days to protest corruption in Maharashtra's co-operative credit societies.
Hazare's 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th fasts were for the Lokpal Bill. The 15th fast was in Delhi, lasting five days, in April 2011, while the 16th fast was also in Delhi in August 2011 and lasted 13 days.
The 17th fast was in Mumbai in December 2011 and lasted two days and the 18th fast, at Ralegan Siddhi, lasted nine days and was called off today.
So far, the 76-year-old activist has fasted for 137 days during his 18 protests, an aide of the social activist said.
Thirteen of these have been against the Maharashtra government, while five were against the Central government, he said. Altogether six ministers and over 600 officials were forced out of office as a result of these protests, he said.
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